Your "I don't have time," fat burning workout

Adding high intensity interval training - or HIIT - to your workout routine does two things:
burns more fat and saves time.

Don't we all want that?

I've written about this before, but you don't have to spend an hour or more at the gym to get a
good workout. In fact, spending an hour on the treadmill is
less beneficial than doing sprints for 15 minutes. Now, I know a lot of runners and
running forever is their preferred form of exercise. I'm not telling you to stop distance running.
In fact, I'm jealous. I can't go more than three miles, and that's a struggle. What I'm suggesting
is to
add interval training to your routine, just like you add strength training (right?), and
you'll see results.

Check out
this article on Charles Poliquin's site. Poliquin is a well-known fitness guru
who gets into the science of exercise. I think these two graphs sum it up:

High-intensity exercise that increases insulin will facilitate muscle protein and glycogen
synthesis, while the increase in growth hormone after the workout will increase the burning of free
fatty acids as an energy source, producing fat loss over the long term.

The endurance workout elevated cortisol and growth hormone, while decreasing insulin. This
indicates that the body is sparing glycogen stores so as to be able to maintain function as
exercise continues at a steady state. This is key because it calls our attention to the reason that
aerobic exercise is not effective for losing fat or building muscle.

Try these HIIT ideas for 15-30 minutes total:

On the treadmill: Warm up for two minutes at a comfortable jog, sprint for 30
seconds, then go back to the jog for a minute or so, then sprint for 45, back to the jog until you
recover, back to the sprint for one minute, then back to the jog for recovery. Then start the cycle
again. Do this for 15-20 minutes.

Other options (at home or the gym): Do mountain climbers for one minute, recover
for 45 seconds, mountain climbers for 45 seconds, recover for 30, mountain climbers for 30, recover
for 15. Then pick another high intensity cardio exercise, say, burpees, and do the same thing. Then
go with, say, high knees or tuck jumps. You can even add a strength exercise - pushups or
bodyweight squats - during the "rest" periods to increase the burn.